by A A Warren
Katara approached her tube. She tapped her long black nails across the curved walls of the cylinder. “Their productivity scores?” she hissed.
“The lowest in their sector, My Queen. Considering the additional manpower you have acquired, our output will not be affected by their… absence.”
“Excellent. They have failed their queen. Now they will serve me in a new capacity. Begin the procedure.”
Servo motors at the ends of the tubes hummed to life, tilting the massive cylinders back at a forty five degree angle. In each tube, a metal ring slid along the inside, locking into place halfway down the clear cylinders. The rings emitted a droning whine. They began to spin around the people trapped inside… slowly at first, then faster and faster. The drone became a high-pitched whine, as the gyrating rings projected a glowing energy field around the frantic prisoners.
Katara stepped away from the cylinders. She leaned backwards, but did not fall down. An invisible lifter field supported her, allowing her to hover prone in the air. Her long, thick hair whipped behind her like silver fire. The anti gravity field bore her aloft, lifting her higher into the air.
Inside the tubes, the whirling energy nipped at the prisoners’ flesh. Their eyes were wide with panic, and their mouths gaped in silent screams. Their flesh began to dissolve and whirl around them, torn apart by the spinning bio-harvester fields. The woman slammed her palm against the transparent walls one last time before her arm disintegrated into a blur of swirling red dots.
The howl of the spinning bio-harvester reached a deafening pitch. The three prisoners vanished into a cloud of red mist. Katara closed her eyes, and ran her fingers through her shimmering hair. Glowing blue circles appeared on her arms and legs, another line of circles down her chest and abdomen.
“You may leave now, Makor,” she moaned. She turned to face him, her eyes wide and dark. Her lips parted as she anticipated the ecstasy that was to come. “Unless you prefer to watch.”
The alien stared at her with his unblinking yellow eyes. He stood mesmerized, transfixed by the image of her hovering naked body. Her words seemed to break his trance. He bowed his head. “Very well, my Queen. I await further instructions.”
Makor pivoted and marched out of the chamber, as Katara sucked in a hissing breath. A shower of red slime sprayed down upon her from vents in the ceiling. The liquid clung to her skin and streamed through her hair. The patter of the falling droplets filled the air as the liquid pooled beneath her. It was reclaimed by a series of vents in the floor, and pumps circulated it through the chamber to rain down upon her flesh again.
The thick fluid moved in trails and streams across her writhing flesh. The glowing circles were bio-portals. They drew the liquid, and the vital elements it contained, directly into her body’s cells. Protein, Amino acids, DNA fragments, telomeres… Every particle of useful material in the prisoners' flesh had been processed and re-synthesized for easy absorption.
She ran her hands across her slick flesh, caressing her skin as the fluid soaked into her. She reached up and touched her cheek… the scar tissue was gone. Only smooth, pale flesh remained beneath the crimson sheen.
Perfection…
She imagined returning home and putting those who had wronged her into the bio-harvester tubes. The procedure could take longer, she knew. The machines could be set to harvest organic material at a slow, agonizing pace. They could peel away skin and flesh molecule by molecule, if she desired.
They will live, she thought. They will live to see their bodies consumed to feed my power. After they have served their purpose…
She threw back her head and laughed as her flesh drank in the last few droplets of red.
Chapter Eleven
A metallic clang vibrated through the hull of the ore-slicer, like the chime of a gigantic gong. B’turo leaned against a wall next to the docking hatch, checking his wrist display. A row of lights next to the door blinked red, then green. He rapped his fist against the metal hatch, as they waited for the anchoring clamps to secure the vehicle in its berth. A squad of guards stood behind Talon and Vaki, their weapons held at their sides.
They were standing on a narrow metal catwalk that ran hundreds of meters above the cavernous interior of the vehicle. Talon glanced down. On the floor below, hundreds of workers lined up in long rows. A layer of grime and dust covered their baggy environmental suits, and tinted helmets masked their faces. Giant hauler mechs floated over them, carrying cargo pods in their spindly, insectile legs.
A loud thunk echoed through the hull. “DOCKING SEQUENCE COMPLETED,” blared the computer-generated voice. “OPERATIONS CREW, PLEASE DISEMBARK VEHICLE IN AN EFFICIENT AND ORDERLY MANNER. REFINERY WORKERS MUST REPORT TO DECONTAMINATION SECTOR 11-A7. NEXT SHIFT BEGINS IN THREE… TWO… ONE.”
The inner docking door hissed open, and a blast of steam jetted from vents on either side. Talon felt gloved hands grip his shoulder. “Move along,” the guard behind him ordered. Talon glanced over his shoulder at the man. His crimson eye glowed bright in the dark interior of the ore-slicer.
“You heard him,” another guard squawked through his helmet. “Move!” He shoved Vaki forward. The girl stumbled, falling to her hands and knees on the catwalk.
Talon snarled and pivoted his body around, thrusting his left arm backwards. The guard behind him was standing too close… Talon’s sudden blow knocked the barrel of the rifle aside just as the guard pulled the trigger. The weapon fired, but the energy bolt flew over their heads, striking the docking hatch just above B’Turo’s head.
“Hey!” the old man shouted, as he ducked beneath the smoking black pit in the hull.
Before anyone knew what was happening, Talon grabbed the barrel of the rifle with one hand, and smashed his other fist into the surprised guard’s throat.
The guard staggered backwards, stumbling into the men behind him. He released the rifle as his hands shot up to his bruised throat. His breath came out as a high-pitched wheeze.
Talon grinned, hefting the discarded weapon in his hands like a club. He slammed the gun into the side of the stunned guard’s head. The dazed man staggered sideways, crashing into the guardrail of the catwalk. Talon grabbed his belt and heaved him over the edge, sending him screaming through the darkness below.
The crack of breaking bones echoed through the vehicle as the plummeting guard struck a floating hauler mech. The hovering machine wobbled, then adjusted to the dead weight. It sped away beneath them, carrying the man’s corpse into the darkness.
The workers did not even look up. They marched out of the giant vehicle in orderly rows, seemingly oblivious to the violence above them.
Vaki staggered to her feet. A series of loud hums surrounded them. The remaining guards cranked their rifles’ power settings to maximum, and stepped back from Talon. Before any of them could fire, another pulse bolt struck the catwalk just in front of Vaki’s feet. She yelped and jumped backwards. A shadowy figure emerged from the steam and mist swirling around the exit.
“That’s enough!” shouted a tall, powerfully built alien. “Everyone lower your weapons.” Talon said nothing, but his eyes held a wild, bloodthirsty stare, and his chest heaved with each panting breath.
Vaki rested her hand on his shoulder. “Hey, I’m okay,” she whispered. “Let it go.”
Talon looked the alien up and down. He was tall for a human, but the alien stood even taller. A shimmering mesh of scales covered his bulging muscles. His golden eyes were wide and unblinking. He held a heavy pulse pistol in his right hand… his left arm ended at the elbow. Something, or someone, had severed the limb off.
“Makor? What are you doing down here with us commoners?” B’Turo drawled.
“Queen Katara demands an audience with the prisoners,” the alien replied.
The old man shrugged. “Knock yourself out.”
“Since when did we become prisoners?” Vaki snapped.
The old man glanced at her as he ducked his head under the frame of the docking hatch. “Do
n’t take it personally. We’re all prisoners here, more or less.” He slung his pack over his shoulder, and strutted away down another catwalk.
“This guy killed Satori!” one of the other guards hissed.
Makor turned his wide yellow eyes on the man. His breath was a wet gurgle through the hydro-mask that covered the lower half of his face. “I saw it on the screens. Satori was careless. He deserved his fate.”
Makor turned to Talon. “If you put down the weapon and come with me, I give you my word, the queen will grant you a chance to state your case.”
He raised his pistol and aimed at Talon’s head. “Otherwise, we settle this here and now.”
“Talon…” Vaki’s voice was low, and cautious.
Makor lowered his pistol. HIs eyes seemed to bulge wider. “Talon… your name is Talon?”
Talon sighed and dropped the rifle. It clattered on the metal catwalk. “I am called Talon, yes. What of it?”
“You were a gladiator, in the Tygon Dominion?”
Talon glared at him, his crimson eye gleaming in the dark interior of the ore-slicer. “How do you know this?”
Makor slid his pistol into a holster at his belt. “I knew your battle trainer.”
Talon furrowed his brow and squinted at the aquatic alien. “You knew Orex Griff? How?”
With his strange, unblinking eyes, and his face half covered by the hydro mask, the alien’s expression was blank and unreadable. “I too was a Dominion slave. A gladiator, like yourself.”
He turned to the guards. “Bring the girl to medical. Tell them to treat her for exposure and dehydration. Give her food and drink, and charge her regulator belt.”
The guards stared at him in shock. “But sir, we—”
“Never question my orders!” Makor bellowed, his words gurgling through his mask. “Do you forget I speak for the queen?”
“Forgive me sir!” the guard whimpered, bowing his head.
Two of the armed men led Vaki out the door. She shrugged free from their grasp and turned back, glancing at Talon with concerned eyes and a furrowed brow.
Talon glared at the other armed men surrounding them, then nodded. “It’s alright. I’ll see you soon.”
One of the guards grabbed her arm, and she allowed him to pull her away.
The alien turned his wide, circular eyes back to Talon. “She will not be harmed, as long as you cooperate. Follow me.”
Talon took a breath and allowed his rage to subside. The guards behind him shuffled back and forth, their weapons held at the ready. Finally he grunted, then followed the alien through the open hatch and onto a narrow catwalk.
He glanced around the cavernous docking chamber. Three more identical ore-slicers lay parked next to the colossal vehicle he had just exited. A spider web of catwalks crisscrossed above and below him, and hundreds of new workers marched in unison down the narrow metal walkways. With their faces hidden by their suits and visors, they seemed almost like mechs, moving at a steady, silent pace. They streamed single file into each ore-slicer, while the old crew exited with equal efficiency. The massive vehicles hummed to life, as the new crews fired up their propulsion systems.
“Where are you taking me?” Talon asked, following Makor down the catwalk.
“You will be given medical attention and nourishment. Then, you will stand before the queen.”
“Queen? You’re telling me this frozen abyss is home to royalty?”
Makor froze in his tracks. He spun around and glared down at Talon. A thin membrane flicked across his eyes.
“You are an outsider,” Makor growled. “You do not know our ways, so I will allow your insult to pass. But know this. Queen Katara lifted me out from another so-called ‘abyss’. A dusty, lifeless rock in the outer reaches of your Dominion. An arena world, where every day of my life was wasted in meaningless sport for petty, drunken nobles. The queen purchased my contract and freed me from my shackles. I owe her more than just my life. She restored my honor. Do you understand?”
Talon nodded. “I do. I have spent many years in such places myself.” He eyed another line of workers, marching far below them. They looked like a row of ants entering a nest.
“But I also know there is more than one kind of slavery,” he added.
Makor glared at him for another moment. Then he looked to the guards. “Bring him to holding room six.”
Then he tuned around, and marched again down the catwalk, disappearing into the shadows of the cavernous docking bay.
Chapter Twelve
PLANET RYKAR
Outer Reaches, Tygon Dominion
Years ago…
Talon grunted as he threw up the twin cryocite blades in a cross block. The hum of his trainer’s plasma axe filled the air, as the blazing weapon collided with his crossed blades. The muscles in his back and arms rippled like a wave of steel, and sweat glistened on his face and chest.
Through the glowing haze of the plasma blade, he made out a face, peering down at him. The nostrils of a wide, black nose flared, as the thick rubbery lips of his opponent’s snout curled in a smile.
“Very good, lad.” The booming voice was deep and gruff, and loud enough to be heard over the crackling of the axe’s blade.
Orex Griff, Talon’s battle instructor, stepped back. The shaggy alien towered over the young human. His four gnarled, twisted horns curved through the air as he tilted his head. One of the horns shimmered in the harsh sunlight… it was a metal implant, a replacement after an injury in the arena had torn the original one from his skull.
Orex shook his head left and right, keeping his razor- tipped natural weapons between them. Talon crouched low, his eyes following the motion of the horns. He feinted with one of his blades, darting back as the plasma axe swung to meet it.
“Good, good!” Orex bellowed. “Keep an eye on your opponent’s weapons… All of them, not just their blades. Humans only have two eyes, but a well-placed feint will show you where to look.”
Orex swung his mighty axe in a low arc towards Talon’s legs. The youth leapt into the air, diving over the fiery blade. He landed in the dust and rolled forward, popping up near the forcefield that surrounded the training field.
As he rose to his feet, a crowd of patrons passing beyond the translucent field caught his eye. The throng of pedestrians parted and dropped to their knees, as a phalanx of Dominion centurions marched past. The sun glinted off the soldiers' polished crimson armor and gold-trimmed capes. Talon narrowed his eyes… something was following the armored men down the street. As more pedestrians hurried out of the way, a hover-platform draped in silk curtains floated into view. A gleaming gold throne rested upon the platform, and a young woman reclined in the luxurious chair.
She wore a jeweled harness, a silken loincloth, and little else. Jewels and precious metal bands pinned up long blonde hair. A small fortune glittered in her flowing tresses. But the precious gems were nothing compared to the liquid gold of her hair in the sunlight.
As she floated past, Talon saw her eyes drift towards him. He stood panting, sweat dripping from his tousled hair. She flashed him an approving smile. Her sparkling blue eyes seemed to caress his muscular body with every glance…
FOCUS…
Talon winced. He heard the words not as sound, but as a white-hot dagger, piercing through the jumble of thoughts in his mind. The buzzing energy field, the crowd outside, the beautiful girl… All replaced by that single, overriding thought.
He blinked and spun around to face Orex. But he was too late.
The wall of fur and muscle charged towards him. Talon ducked low to avoid the alien’s rack of horns. But before he could strike, he felt a blow connect with his legs. He grunted in pain as the powerful swing kicked him off his feet, and sent him sprawling into the dust.
Talon hit the ground face first. He coughed as he inhaled a mouthful of sand. He rolled over onto his back, and wiped the dirt from his face. He glanced over his shoulder… the girl was gone. The last of the armored centurions
disappeared into the crowd, and the mass of pedestrians closed behind them.
Orex laughed, a braying, guttural sound that echoed through the arena. “Something catch your attention boy? An enemy flanking you from behind, perhaps?” The hulking alien reached out a fur-covered paw. His fist was nearly the size of Talon’s head. Talon grabbed hold, and Orex yanked him to his feet.
Talon nodded towards the crackling energy barrier. “No, it was a girl. She was beautiful… I think she was a princess.”
Orex chuckled again. “Well, you won’t be the first gladiator distracted by a pretty face. But if I hadn’t powered down my axe, you’d be standing about a meter shorter right now.” The bull-faced alien cocked his head, gazing down at Talon with his huge, bulbous brown eyes. “And we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Understand?”
Talon gazed into the crowd for a moment, then nodded. “It won’t happen again.”
Orex placed a hand on Talon’s shoulder. “It’s not the first time I’ve caught you day dreaming. Looking out there, with longing in your eyes. What is it you think you see?”
Talon glanced up at him. He grit his teeth, then spat out a mouthful of dust. “Freedom.”
Orex grunted. He bent down on one knee and looked Talon in the eye. “Listen to me, boy. We are slaves, here, I know. It’s a hard truth, one that took me a long time to accept. But there is more than one kind of slavery. And those people you see beyond the barrier… they may not be as free as you think.”
Talon gave the alien a confused look. “What do you mean?”
Orex glanced out the barrier as he spoke. “I have trained warriors for ages now… longer than you’ve been alive. But in all my years, I have never seen anyone fight like you. We share something special, you and I. Our thoughts, perhaps our souls… They are linked.” Orex placed a hand over Talon’s heart. “I won’t pretend to understand what it means. But when we fight, we fight as one.”